You don’t see a kid walking a heifer or a horse or a hog every day — especially not in the city.
But the public can see a host of youth working with livestock and other animals at the Fremont 4-H Expo at Christensen Field, 1710 W. 16th St.
The 93rd annual event, set from July 12-15, will feature 10 livestock shows — from rabbits and poultry to cattle and swine — along with a dog show.
It also features the ever-popular Static Exhibits in which youth demonstrate their skill and knowledge in areas such as communications and expressive arts, environmental education, family and consumer science and engineering and technology.
The expo is a 4-H and FFA progress show, meaning it helps prepare youth to compete at the county and state fair level. It draws between 400 and 500 exhibitors from a nine-county area, including Burt, Cuming, Dodge, Washington, Saunders, Douglas, Sarpy, Butler and Colfax counties.
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Visitors to the fair have opportunities to watch and speak with youth about their animals.
Jay Schroeder, expo co-manager, also points out the effort youth put into their projects.
“When you see an 8- or 9-year-old working with a 1,000-pound beef animal — a heifer or steer — or you see young exhibitors working their horses, they have put lots and lots of hours into these projects to present them at the local progress shows and fairs that are coming up,” Schroeder said.
Besides livestock shows, the fair has contests such as a “Culinary Challenge” in which a 4-H’er prepares an entrée and displays it with a place setting and has a five-minute interview with a judge.
Other contests include those for archery and shooting sports.
Different businesses and organizations provide doughnuts and coffee from Wednesday-Friday mornings with a pancake feed planned Saturday morning.
This year, the Farmhouse food truck from North Bend will be onsite Thursday and Friday.
The public also is invited to the Community Luncheon at noon Friday in the Fremont Friendship Center, 1730 W. 16th St. Tickets cost $10 each for the Windsor loin dinner. The Grand Ambassadors will be honored and the Grand Marshal introduced.
This year, Jan Aschoff and her late husband, Carl, are the Grand Marshals. The Aschoffs have spent years serving and promoting the dairy industry and encouraging future generations of dairy herdsmen and women.
The luncheon serves as a time of fellowship for families, while giving youth some much-deserved recognition for their projects and as ambassadors and grand ambassadors, Schroeder said.
“We also have ‘Guess the Weight Contest’ of a calf,” he added. “People really enjoy that.”
Luncheon tickets are available at the door or the Nebraska Extension office, 1206 W. 23rd St., in Fremont.
Schroeder enjoys seeing families working with the kids and their projects.
For Saturday’s hog show, many families will come with a trailer.
“What you’ll find amazing is how well-trained those pigs are,” Schroeder noted. “They’ll walk them all over the fairgrounds. They’re so well trained.”
That’s a big change from two decades ago.
“I think kids work with their hogs almost every day now,” Schroeder said. “Twenty years ago, you got your hog. You picked it out of the lot and you fed it, but you didn’t walk it and practice for showmanship like you do now.”
Schroeder adds that youth need not live on a farm to be in 4-H. Parents can contact their local extension office to see how they can get their kids involved.
In the meantime, Schroeder invites young and older folks to attend the expo.
“I hope you come and see some amazing things with the projects they’ve presented – whether it be working with livestock or walking the pigs,” he said. “It takes work. It takes practice. It takes patience. It takes trial and error and I hope you have an appreciation for the kids and what they’ve done.”
A full schedule of events can be found at bit.ly/3pG3hdB. A few events include:
- 9 a.m. Wednesday – 4-H Horse Show, livestock arena.
- 9 a.m. Thursday – 4-H Sheep Show, livestock arena.
- 5 p.m. Thursday – 4-H Archery Competition, multipurpose building.
- 9 a.m. Friday – 4-H Beef Show, livestock arena.
- 10 a.m. Friday – 4-H Dog Show, multipurpose building.
- 11:45 a.m. Friday – Serving begins for Community Luncheon in the Fremont Friendship Center, 1730 W. 16th St., (Linden Avenue and Ridge Road).
- 4 p.m. Friday – Dairy Show, livestock arena.
- 5 p.m. Friday – Shooting Sports Competition, multipurpose building.
- 8 a.m. Saturday – 4-H Swine Show, livestock arena.
- 9:30 a.m. Saturday – 4-H Rabbit Show, multipurpose building.
- 1 p.m. Saturday – 4-H Poultry Show, multipurpose building.